Yogo Junzo
Yogo Junzo was a shugenja of the Scorpion Clan in charge of the First of the twelve Black Scrolls who fell to the corruption of the Shadowlands. Yogo Junzo (Obsidian flavor) Family Yogo Junzo was the oldest son of the Yogo Daimyo and his heir. He was cousin of Soshi Bantaro, the Soshi Daimyo. Way of the Scorpion, pp. 63-64 Powerful Shugenja Junzo was one of three men - including the Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Shoju and Junzo's father - who knew the location of the first Black Scroll. Junzo considered himself the finest shugenja, and easily the superior of the Isawa Elemental Masters. It was only his name that had kept him from vying for the position of Elemental Master of Void. Way of the Scorpion, p. 63 Mysoginist Junzo viewed women as inferior creatures, best suited - like dogs - to remain in the home. He had often been chastised for expressing his views in public and even Shohu struck him for mocking Bayushi Kachiko, leaving Junzo with a scar across his forehead just above his right eye. Loyalty Junzo saw his duty as a responsibility to Rokugan rather than to the Scorpion Clan. If the Scorpion must fall to preserve the Empire, then he would let the Scorpion fall. Discovery of the Prophecies of Uikku In 1122 a group of Yogo attempted to map out a deep chasm located in the Bayushi's Labyrinth. They found a cave with scrolls, weapons, items of jade and gold. Junzo was entrusted by Shoju to oversee the excavations, and he remained home from the Emperor's winter court in order to assess the items. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, pp. 85-86 Due to his readings of the Prophecies of Uikku found in the chasm, Yogo Shidachi (Honor Bound Foil Chase Cards flavor) Shoju would determine that the last Hantei Emperor would bring the downfall of Rokugan, so he instigated the Scorpion Coup to avoid this fate. Autumn Nightfall, by Ree Soesbee Yogo Daimyo Junzo was the Yogo Daimyo when Bayushi Shoju was the Scorpion Clan Champion, Imperial Histories, p. 132 and assisted Shoju in the Scorpion Coup. The Legion of Blood: The Traitor He was entrusted with to guard the First Black Scroll, secretely kept at Shiro Yogo. Roleplaying in the Emerald Empire, p. 233 Junzo claimed to have fulfilled the Yogo Curse at a young age when he betrayed his sensei to another Yogo instructor. This was a lie he crafted to ensure his rightful place as daimyo. Secrets of the Scorpion, p. 66 Scorpion Coup Shoju had anticipated his possible defeat, and had issued written orders to Junzo shortly before the Scorpion Coup began: survival would continue to become the priority of the survivors, because only through survival should they find justice, and only through survival should they find revenge. After the failure of the Coup Junzo and three hundreds followers moved to the lightly guarded Kaiu Wall, and crossed it entering into the Shadowlands. A day later, a Crab scouting party found only a field of unindetifiable mangled corpses. Way of the Wolf, pp. 108-109 The Black Scrolls A Black scroll is Opened In anguish over the death of his Clan Champion Bayushi Shoju and enraged at the Emperor for destroying his family and the Clan, he violated his clan's ancient duty and opened the first of the twelve Black Scrolls creating a deadly Wasting Disease spreading across Rokugan, bringing misery and death to all who contracted it. The First Scroll is Opened (Honor Bound Foil Chase Cards flavor) Fu Leng's spirit escaped its imprisonment and was able to possess the young Emperor, Hantei XXXIX. Time of the Void The plague killed Junzo, who raised as one of Fu Leng's undead servants. Time of the Void, p. 143 Scorpion Clan Coup, Scrolls 1-3 Yogo Junzo' Citadel Junzo journeyed deep into the Shadowlands, where he opened the second scroll to create his base of operations, the Iron Citadel. Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition, pp. 18-19 Junzo began actively seeking out the other Black Scrolls so that he might open them and help usher his new master's soul back into the mortal realm. He roused an army of undead, demons, and wicked spirits to aid in his goals. He began to write his ravings. Way of the Ratling, p. 13 Yogo Junzo's Army Junzo's corruption caused him to believe he had been chosen by Fu Leng himself to lead the Shadowlands against Rokugan. Junzo also believed that he had found some form of enlightenment, and even dreamed of becoming Fu Leng himself. Clan Letter to the Shadowlands Horde (Imperial Herald v2 #4) He returned from the Shadowlands carrying the Porcelain Mask of Fu Leng, and claimed that it once belonged to the Dark Kami. Way of the Shadowlands, p. 132 Shadowlands Horde Junzo claimed that he had a dream, a vision in which the diverse creatures of darkness were unified beneath a single leader, and called this army the Shadowlands Horde. He also told that the newest mon of the Shadowlands, a scowling oni, came to him in that dream. Junzo emblazoned the mon in a Battle Standard rallying the minions of the Shadowlands under it, and declared himself as the new leader until the return of the true one. Way of the Shadowlands, p. 32 Others simply called his forces as Yogo Junzo's Army. Yogo Junzo's Army (Anvil of Despair Title) Clan War A Black Scroll is Stolen In 1126 Isawa Tadaka, the Master of Earth, journeyed to the Shadowlands and found the Yogo Junzo's stronghold. He sneaked in and stole one of the Black Scrolls, returning with it to Kyuden Isawa. The Legion of the Dead: Phoenix Thunder Tadaka had seen the army Yogo Junzo was marshalling to attack the Empire. Time of the Void, p. 8 Defeated at Shiro Iuchi The first appearance of his army was in Fall of 1127, and it almost destroyed Shiro Iuchi. Junzo had raised an undead army mainly composed of dead Phoenix ashigaru, with the support of a powerful Elemental Vortex commande by Junzo himself. They breached the castle walls, but the magic of Iuchi Karasu and the intervention of Battle Maidens led by Otaku Kamoko forced the army to flee. Time of the Void, p. 52 Fighting the Naga The False Hoturi blocked the path between Mirumoto Daini with his Naga army, and Toturi the Black. Both armies clashed several times, without conclusion. The minions of the Shadowlands retreated whenever the naga gained the upper hand. Clan Letter to the Naga #1 (Imperial Herald v1#1) Junzo later ambushed them, and naga army barely escaped alive, retreating to Unicorn lands. Clan Letter to the Dragon #2 (Imperial Herald v1 #2) Eleventh Black Scroll Junzo sent Uragirimono to Doro Owari Mura, Road's End Village, to destroy it and to steal the 11th Black Scroll, the Doom of Fu Leng, and a powerful tainted artifact known as Kenshin's Helm, that were hidden in a cave outside the city. The beast stole both items but his spawns were killed by Shosuro Hametsu when, days later, favorable wind conditions allowed him to spread an incense poisonous to the tainted across the village. Time of the Void, p. 48 The scroll was later on the hands of the Kuni Daimyo Kuni Yori, who in turn passed it to Kuni Wazinu, to use it in an attempt to taint the Chimes of Purity in the Four Temples at Kyuden Seppun Time of the Void, p. 94 in the Month of the Ox. Time of the Void, p. 54 Finding the descendant of Shinsei In 1126 Junzo had been commanded by his master to destroy the monasteries of the Brotherhood of Shinsei, seeking the descendant of Shinsei Way of the Open Hand, p. 10 to kill him before he could reunite the Seven Thunders. Ryan Dancey's Timeline (Anvil of Despair) Junzo split his force into smaller armies. One destroyed the Four Temples at Kyuden Seppun Time of the Void, p. 74 while another was defeated by Otaku Kamoko in the Battle of Iuchi Temple. Heavy Cavalry (Obsidian flavor) Kamoko and the Doomseeker, Iuchi Karasu, fought Junzo's armies, trying to stop the destruction of the Empire's most holy sites. The Legion of the Dead: Unicorn Thunder In 1128 his army was defeated in the Battle at Shinden Osano-Wo. Time of the Void, p. 67 March to Otosan Uchi In the Month of the Hare of 1128 Time of the Void, p. 55 Junzo marched with his army to Otosan Uchi to join his master, Fu Leng, who had possessed the body of Hantei XXXIX. Clan Letter to Toturi's Army #4 (Imperial Herald v1 #4) Looking for the Black Scrolls In 1128 Junzo marched against Kyuden Isawa, sacking Shiro Shiba on his way there in the Battle of Phoenix's Flight, despite the efforts of Karasu and Kamoko which had been there supporting the Phoenix. Strengthtened by the blackened wastes that surrounded the Isawa Palace, the combined army Phoenix and Unicorn could not match Junzo's army. In the Battle of Blackened Ground Junzo captured the Black Scrolls held in the library within and set Kyuden Isawa ablaze. Time of the Void, pp. 75-76 Defeated In winter of 1128 the Yoritomo's Alliance, defeated Junzo'army in the Battle of Sokustel Forest. The Shadowlands horde were traveling inside the Sokustel Forest near Otosan Uchi to outflank the massing forces of Rokugan, prior to the assault of the Imperial City and the ensuing Second Day of Thunder. Time of the Void, p. 100 Nanashi Mura and The Maw Another failure this year happened to his army. Time of the Void, p. 101 Junzo deemed Nanashi Mura a menace, and had dispatched an army of his most powerful oni commanded by The Maw to slaughter Nanashi's inhabitants. Morito Tokei had been stationed on the village by Toturi the Black, and the ronin shugenja defeated the invading oni army. Return of the Grand Master - Introduction, by Rich Wulf Four Winds, p. 94 Death In 1128, in the Second Day of Thunder, when Junzo retreated from his doomed army, Otaku Kamoko charged after him. Kamoko's horse, Hachiman burst into a sudden blur of speed and Junzo's body was crushed by the steed's mighty strides. The First to Fall The Provincial Estate of the Unicorn (Time of the Void, story back) Iuchi Karasu cast a spell assuring that his soul would never rejoin his body. Time of the Void, p. 103 Afterwards the Scorpion burned his remains and scattered the ashes in Traitor's Grove, though his soul had long since escaped into Jigoku. Legion of Blood After Death Yokai His corrupted soul became a Yokai, Yokai no Junzo (Ambition's Debt) after his soul ended up in Jigoku. Fortunes & Winds, p. 32 His spirit was so strong that forged his own tiny empire from the stuff of darkness. He still looked to the mortal realm, haunting the souls of those who shared his passions and outlook. Secrets of the Scorpion, p. 76 Shahai's "Grandfather" When Iuchi Shahai listened to the voices she heard, she travelled to the Forest of Dreamers, where she found a ruined house. Inside the house, she found a battered skeleton and a collection of scrolls. Painting a kanji on the skull's forehead with her own blood, she animated it, and the skull introduced itself as "Grandfather". Grandfather then told Shahai how to become a Bloodspeaker. Bloodspeakers, pp. 68-69 The ivory skull, with the kanji symbol of Void scrawled in blood upon its forehead, had a jagged crack that split the skull down the center, a bitter reminder of an encounter with the Unicorn Thunder two decades earlier. Bloodties, A Tale of Rokugan, by Rich Wulf Legion of Blood In 1166 Junzo was one of many damned souls chained in service to Iuchiban and was part of his Legion of Blood. Moshi Amarante In 1170 another shugenja, Moshi Amarante, had been hearing voices, voices calling themselves Grandfather. Moshi Amarante (The Heaven's Will flavor) If this was a sign she was on the path to follow Shahai was unknown. See also * Yogo Junzo/Meta * Yogo Junzo/CW Meta External Links * Yogo Junzo (Imperial) * Yogo Junzo Exp (Forbidden Knowledge) * Yogo Junzo Exp2 (1000 Years of Darkness) * Yogo Junzo, The Betrayer (Siege: Clan War) Category:Scorpion Clan Leaders Category:Leaders of the Shadowlands